


expectations, reality

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, gq magazine is evil, sorry about that, very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 02:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is upset about a certain interview. Just a quick post-GQ fix-it fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	expectations, reality

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'm actually working on real, long things, two of them, but Rachel made me do this I'm sorry.

 

The dull thud of paper on carpet is enough to startle Harry out of his light doze. He’d tucked himself into a bunk in the empty tour bus, hoping to catch some sleep before the concert, but someone apparently has other plans. He can’t have been out for more than fifteen minutes, if his watch is anything to go by.

“Harry?” says a familiar voice, and Harry can see a shape moving beyond the curtain of his bunk.

“Mmmrrrrhrjh,” Harry replies, rolling onto his side in the dim light.

“Beautifully said,” the intruder replies, and Harry is forced back by the shock of evening light that streams in on him as the curtain is wrenched open. He moans, hands covering his eyes.

“Looouuu,” he whines, backed against the wall of the bus. “I’m sleeping.”

“No, you _were_ sleeping. Have you seen this?” Louis asks, voice sharp, and something in Harry immediately whirrs into gear. The words _Louis_ and _upset_ rebound around his mind as he tries to shake off the tendrils of sleep. Harry pulls himself to the edge of the bed. He’s on the bottom bunk, and when he peers over the side he can read the header of the magazine that’s been thrown at its base.

“GQ? Yeah, I saw it earlier.” Harry stares up at Louis, who seems to be having trouble keeping himself together. He’s got a kind of jittery anger about him, hands crossed tightly against his chest, his shirt bunched beneath them. Harry had read the whole thing with a kind of distant irritation. He might have found it in him to be madder, but a) he’s really tired, and b) Niall had been with him at the time, reading choice quotes aloud in an over-the-top posh accent. It’s kind of hard to take anything seriously when Niall does that to it. “The whole thing is pretty bullshit, isn’t it?”

Louis raises his eyebrows. “That’s an understatement.” He leans back against the opposing bunks, blue eyes gleaming in the dull light. “Harry, they harassed you about your sex life and called you a man-whore. Why aren’t you more upset about this?”

Harry runs a hand over his curly mop of hair where it’s splayed against the pillow, mashing it over his forehead in a thoughtful gesture. “I guess I’m just used to that by now?”

Louis sighs, like he's exasperated by Harry's compliance. “You shouldn’t have to be used to that, Haz.”

Harry squeezes his eyes shut. That thought used to occur to him a lot, but if he let it get to him he’d go completely insane. Like he’d said in the interview, he supposes.

“Yeah, maybe,” Harry mumbles, pressing his face into the cool pillow. “The rest of the article bothers me more, actually. He was a massive dick to you lot.”

“And the fans,” Louis adds bitterly, and Harry manages a horizontal nod as Louis continues, “We didn’t even look good in the photos.”

“Clearly it’s all part of a subtle campaign to undermine us. Sap our strength. Then when we’re helpless and powerless, they’ll flood mainland America and create new real estate.”

Louis lets out a snort, and when Harry glances up to meet his eyes he can see a hint of a smile back in them. That’s good. Harry can’t stand it when the laughter vanishes from Louis.

“I don’t think that guy was Lex Luthor, Haz.”

“No, you’re right. Not smart enough to be Lex.” Harry shuffles backwards, patting the bed, and Louis doesn’t hesitate before fitting himself into the space.

“And too much hair,” Louis adds. He’s warm against Harry’s chest, and the way their bodies curve and fit together never fails to leave Harry breathless. It was something they'd discovered way back during X-Factor, something that had made them starry eyed and full of ideas about destiny and fate and all that. So much time has passed since then, and all of it has been peppered with this kind of media insanity. Fake dates and fake tweets and articles like this one. But at the end of it all, Harry still has the way Louis fits against him.

There’s a moment of silence as the two of them enjoy the contact, the comfort from each other’s presence.

“Harry Styles’ Penis and the Backup Eunichs,” Louis says absently as he reaches up to pull Harry’s arm over his side, and Harry can feel his voice rumble through their entwined bodies.

“What?” Harry asks with a huff of a giggle against Louis’ neck, and he can’t see it but he knows Louis is smiling, can hear it in his voice.

“I just thought maybe we should rename ourselves after that interview. Conform to expectations and all.”

This time Harry laughs properly, pulling Louis over so that they’re facing each other.

“You’re not a backup eunich,” he whispers against Louis’ lips. “I have a lot of experience that would indicate quite the contrary.”

He leans forward to press a kiss to Louis’ lips, soft and fleeting, more an attempt at reassurance than a pass to start something more. Louis tilts his head as Harry pulls away, and sighs, his breath rushing over Harry’s neck.

“It’s just, interviews like this really do make me feel helpless. The way they portray us, the way they talk about you, like that is what matters about us...”

Harry moves to run his nose over Louis’ cheek. He loves the way Louis’ eyelashes press against his cheeks with eyes turned down like that. “You’re not helpless, or unimportant. You’re a rock star. You have an army of fangirls at your beck and call.” He presses a kiss to Louis’ ear, whispers, “You have me.”

“They don’t know that,” Louis replies, his voice low, and Harry shrugs.

“If it came down to it, I’d make them very, very aware,” he replies, pulling back slightly to press his forehead to Louis’ own. “They can talk about me all they want. They can say I’ve slept with one hundred women if it makes them feel better.”

“Not a single person on Earth is going to believe that you’ve only slept with two people.”

“Not even you?”

Louis laughs softly. “I might be the exception. What with my special insider’s knowledge and all.”

“Whatever you say, numero duo,” Harry replies, leaning in for a kiss. Their legs become tangled together, chests pressed close, as Harry breathes in Louis' scent of vanilla and salt. Louis settles in his arms, tongue flicking lazily along Harry's lower lip. He runs his fingers through Harry's hair, and Harry realises that he can feel weird vibrations against his lips, can hear the faint sound of - 

"Lou," he murmurs, breaking them apart. "Louis, are you humming 'They Don't Know About Us'?'

Louis smirks. "I might be."

"You colossal prat," Harry replies, shoving him off the bed. His success is tinged with failure when Louis grabs his arms at the last minute, dragging him down as well. "Lou!"

They meet the floor of the bus with force, sprawled on the ground. Louis actually cushioned a significant amount of Harry's fall, but consequently his face is now screwed up in over-the-top pain. "Harry, I think you broke me."

"You're the one who grabbed me," Harry retorts, rolling off Louis onto his side. He stays pressed against Louis though, their hands and legs still intertwined, until Louis draws his right hand away and reaches under him. 

"There's something..." he mutters, and then produces from beneath them the crumpled form of the GQ magazine. "We killed it."

"Good," Harry replies grabbing the tattered clump of paper and throwing it off somewhere. He thinks it might end up in Zayn's bed, but he can't be sure. He's too busy grinning down at Louis, as Louis rises up to meet him in a kiss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at compassanddragon if you feel like saying hi ^^


End file.
